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I badly neglected this blog. Why? Because my son was plagued with colic.

At six weeks he stopped taking naps, and the only way he would not cry in pain was if I took him out in the sling or baby bjorn and walked for hours around the neighborhood. I was running on four hours of sleep per night for months. Then I tried acidophilis and he SLEPT. Not only did he sleep, but he slept GREAT. He is six months old now, and I don’t need to give him as much acidopilis, but it turns out he’s a great sleeper and a happy baby. He sleeps twelve hours straight at night, and naps three to five hours during the day. The second biggest benefit to all of this is I feel like a human being again. The first benefit is that my son is happy and feeling good.

Acidophilis is also known as Lactobacillus acidophilus. It is a probiotic that has good bacteria to help with intestinal digestion. I use a liquid brand that is not even formulated exclusively for babies. There is a formulation for babies, but I never used it. My son sucks the acidophilis down and cries for more. I just follow the instructions on the bottle and give him “the recommended amount for children under two years of age”.

When I spoke to my baby’s doctor about him not taking naps (imagine a new born sleeping a total of seven hours a day) she told me “Some babies just don’t need naps.“ . This from a pediatrician! I was so frustrated by this explanation. Of course he needed naps. He was miserable and growing at an astounding rate. How can a human being function and grow without enough sleep? I set out to find the answer on my own. Bedraggled and exhausted, I had no one to help me with this screaming child other than my husband when he would come home from his ten hour work day. I was on my own with the night time feedings, I do most of my work from home so I had no one to help me there either. I would wake up at 4:30 each morning to get my work done before the baby woke up at 6:30. What a mess, I couldn’t even remember my name. I’m so glad that is over now, and the payback of a sleeping baby that I have now is priceless.

Another natural remedy that I tried was Gripe Water. The gripe water is a formulation of dill, fennel, ginger, chamomile, and others. The Gripe Water did help, but mostly it was best for my sons gas. He definitely got relief from the gripe water, but he would usually vomit a lot of phlegm afterward. I still use the gripe water occasionally when he has gas and it works great, but it does not relieve him to the point where he can relax and go to sleep like the acidophilis.

Maybe I should have named this post, “Who knew I had a wonderful baby? Thank you acidophilis.”